Berkeley Square Horror
The , also known as the Nameless Thing of Berkeley Square, was an entity of ambiguous origin reported to have haunted 50 Berkeley Square, a townhouse located in the Mayfair area of London, England from the mid to late 19th century. Stories about the entity vary wildly in their descriptions of its appearance and behavior, leading skeptics to denounce it as a tall tale.http://mentalfloss.com/article/63012/secret-50-berkeley-square The entity reported to have inhabited 50 Berkeley Square is interesting in that alleged eyewitness reports can't seem to agree on what it looks like. There are two main interpretations of the creature. The first is that it is the ghost of a young woman who committed suicide in the top floor bedroom. Sometimes the ghost is attributed to other people, such as a little girl or a deformed man. The other interpretation is that it is a more corporeal entity sometimes described as resembling an amorphous cephalopod-like creature with slimy skin and numerous tentacles. One of the most notable tales regarding the alleged specter is that of 20-year-old Sir Robert Warboys, who in 1840 reportedly agreed to stay overnight in the second-floor bedroom as part of a dare, as he was a staunch skeptic who refused to accept that the building might be haunted. The landlord was hesitant to let Warboys stay in the room but agreed on the condition that Warboys keep a pistol with him and agree to ring a bell if he saw anything. As the story goes, just after midnight, the bell began ringing furiously followed by a single gunshot. The landlord rushed upstairs toward the bedroom, only to find Warboys's body slumped in the corner of the room. His hand was still tightly gripped around the trigger of the pistol, and his face was frozen in an expression of pure terror. There was a single bullet hole in the wall, but there was no trace of whatever it was he shot. Another notable tale regarding the alleged specter is that of George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton. According to the story, in 1872, the English aristocrat agreed to stay in the house's attic overnight as part of a bet. Taking a shotgun with him, Lyttelton allegedly stayed in the attic bedroom and eventually fired at the ghost when he saw it, causing it to flee. The only evidence that he had seen anything was the shotgun cartridges he found the next morning. However, there is not sufficient evidence to accept that Lyttelton ever stayed at 50 Berkeley Square. The most famous incident, however, is the story of two sailors, Robert Martin and Edward Blunden, who allegedly broke into the house in the 1880s for a place to sleep while they were on shore leave. During the night, they were awoken just after midnight by the sounds of creaking floorboards and wet, slopping noises, signaling to them that they were not alone in the room. Blunden got up to investigate, only to find what was allegedly described as a pulsating fleshy mass blocking the door. The creature pounced on Blunden, prompting Martin to flee the house and get the attention of a passing officer. When Martin and the officer returned, Blunden was reportedly found with a look of terror plastered on his face. Like the others, this story has no corroborating evidence. *'Eyewitness Testimony:' While it is claimed that numerous witnesses have seen the entity, it is impossible to verify these claims or interview the witnesses since no incidents have happened since the turn of the 20th century. Thus, the eyewitnesses themselves may not even exist, as their accounts are only known through second-hand or even third-hand sources. *'Ghost:' The most common interpretation is that the creature is a ghost, usually described as the spirit of a woman who committed suicide due to being abused by her family. *'Amphibious Cephalopod:' The other most popular hypothesis is that the beast is some form of cephalopod-like creature. While cephalopods are capable of moving on land quite effectively, they still require a regular source of water so as to keep their skin moist, making this hypothesis unlikely. *'Hoax:' The majority of skeptics today regard the tales of 50 Berkeley Square as nothing more than a series of hoaxes and/or exaggerations. In particular, skeptics maintain that the tale of the two sailors who stayed a night in the house was fabricated by English author Elliott O'Donnell.https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/06/the-bizarre-nameless-thing-of-berkeley-square/ The fact that the current owners of the house have not reported any paranormal activity lends credence to the hypothesis. *The legends surrounding 50 Berkeley Square were incorporated into the 1947 British comedy film The Ghosts of Berkeley Square, in which two bumbling ghosts are condemned to haunt a house in Berkeley Square as punishment for their bungled attempt to hold the Duke of Marlborough hostage.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039421/ *The above-mentioned film was actually an adaptation of the 1944 novel No Nightingales by English authors Caryl Brahms and S. J. Simon. BerkeleyHorror.jpg|An artist's interpretation Category:All entries Category:Hauntings Category:England Category:Debunked